Page 8 of Eat. Prey. Love.
Something has triggered our friend badly and he’s falling to pieces before our eyes.
“Get us to the goddamn library,” I snarl at the driver. “We’ll go to the main building later. And not a word about this toanyone.”
The shifter nods, turning the wheel to steer away from the hulking main building to head over to the back entrance of the library complex. Luckily for us, the escorts have loyalty to their employers, not the school or Council, because we couldn’t have guaranteed this outburst stays secret otherwise.
Once we’re safely in the loading area, I hop out and knock on Fitz’s window. He joins me, walking to the back of the SUV to grab our shit. His expression is full of confusion and I shrug—I truly don’t know.
“Sulky Shakespeare never acts like that,” he says after I close the trunk. “And I don’t smell a fucking thing out of place. Is it a mythical thing, you think?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. Let’s see what Aubrey says.”
Chess and our dragon friend exit their vehicle, going to the back to get Jinx’s carrier and their things. By the time they join us, I’m hiding my escalating concern. Dolly and Ren are still in the car, quietly sitting together and whispering.
“What happened?” Chess frowns as he tilts his head.
Fitz snorts. “We don’t know, love. All of a sudden, the big guy went apeshit, saying he smelled non-supes on campus and then sort of crumbled like a cookie.”
Aubrey’s eyes widen and he sucks in a breath. “Shit. I don’t know exactlywhatit is, but I know what it has to do with.”
I arch a brow. “Do tell, Draconis.”
“Guaranteed it has something to do with that fucking orchid and his fucking past. Looks like he’s going to be forced to unlock some of those cages inside sooner rather than later.”
Shit. That doesn’t sound good at all.
While the restof us get our shit into the librarian’s complex at the back of the library, Dolly sits with the gloomy gargoyle in the living area. We’ll need to modify this place to fit our family, but I’m certain Chess can help get it done. Our girl’s punky badger helped get Aubrey placed here through his boyfriends. They made some calls to the Kavarits and the long-time Sphinx working at this place went on an extended sabbatical.
Unfortunately, this place looks like a grandmother’s tea room and the Pepto colored walls and doilies are everywhere. There are creepy ass sightless porcelain dolls on every surface—and I do meanevery—whichis when we all find out they scare my twin to death. He’s zipping around with his hand shielding his eyes as he drags our shit in, muttering to himself about them ‘coming to life at night to kill him.’
I’d be laughing, but we can only handle one person losing their marbles at a time—Ren is a much bigger concern.
“Get it together, bro,” I rumble at him, adding an edge of alpha to it so he pays attention.
Fitz straightens, glaring at me for a moment before he sucks in a deep breath then blows it out. “In with the anxiety, out with the calm…”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Aubrey snorts as he pushes past with Jinx’s carrier. He sets it down on the frilly couch, wrinkling his nose before letting the tiny menace out. “Why is everyone going banana pants? Is there something in the fucking air here? Fucking French…”
That gets Ren’s attention and he lifts his head, giving his mate a dirty look. “Suce-moi la bite, garçon lézard.?1”
A laugh bursts free and even though I don’t know what he said, I get the gist, especially when Aubrey smirks at him. “Only if you stop being a whiny little bitch,mon coeur. Good boys get treats.”
Dolly’s eyes glaze over and I watch her squirm against our friend. She gives Aubrey a matching irritated look before hissing, “Sois gentil, mon grand. Il souffre vraiment.?2”
When the hell did she learn that much French? Son of a bitch.
“Oooooh. Iloveit when youvoulez-vous, Baby Girl. It makes my dick do backflips.” Fitz walks over, bending to nuzzle the other side of her neck until she moans softly. “Much better than when this fancy asshole does it.”
“Itissexy,” Aubrey muses as he grins at her. “I didn’t know he was teaching you.”
She frowns, her eyes narrowing. “He’snot. I took French in high school and Luc helped me a little this summer. I can learn things on my own, too.”
“Speaking of your designer friend, we should text him and let him know we’ve all arrived safely. His help was invaluable,” Chess pipes up. “We didnotwant to transport our family on other people’s jets, so lending us his made Felix calm down immensely.”
I roll my eyes, but nod at his statement. “Princess, you handle that. Chester, this place is…” I pause, not having the words to describe the décor accurately.
“A nightmare. I’m on it,” he says with a grin. “Maybe Ren could help? He enjoys it and it might be a good distraction until he’s ready to talk about what happened.”
The gargoyle lifts his head again and huffs. “Fine. But shut the hell up about my… issue… until I can gather my fucking thoughts. There are many things we need to discuss and they are important for both our current situation and the future. Some of them are not known outside of small circles and my story is known to almost no one.”